Sparks Will Fly! All About Rachel McAdams's Enviable Love Life
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'The Notebook' actress famously dated one of the biggest heartthrobs in the business.
For a certain generation of fans, Rachel McAdams’s dating history begins and ends with her and Ryan Gosling accepting the 2005 MTV Movie Awards for Best Kiss, for their famous rain-soaked embrace in The Notebook. But the Oscar-nominated actress has dated plenty of men since then (even if she's kept her love life largely private)—and she's currently in a long-term relationship with filmmaker Jamie Linden. Here is everything you need to know about the star's real-life romances.
Who is Rachel McAdams dating now?
Photo by Derek White/Getty Images for State of the Industry GA Film Summit 2022
As of this writing, Rachel McAdams appears to be dating Jamie Linden. The two were first spotted together in May 2016, on a walk through Paris. However, the pair has kept their coupling on the down-low since then, with neither speaking about the relationship publicly. (You'd be hard-pressed to even find a photo of them together!) Even so, McAdams has confirmed that they share two children, a son and a daughter.
So, who is Linden? Professionally, he is a filmmaker. His entrance to Hollywood was the 2006 movie We Are Marshall, which he wrote and co-produced. A closer look at his resumé reveals that he and McAdams were leading parallel lives even before they got together: He wrote the screenplay for the 2010 adaptation of Nicholas Sparks's Dear John, featuring McAdams's The Vow co-star Channing Tatum (remember, Sparks wrote the book on which the The Notebook was based, too); and he made his directorial debut in 2011 with 10 Years, which also starred Tatum.
Linden also wrote the screenplay for 2016’s Money Monster, which starred George Clooney and Julia Roberts. And he did script rewrites for Chaos Walking, a sci-fi film starring Tom Holland and Daisy Ridley.
Related: The 60 Best Romantic Movies So Far This Century, Ranked
Is Rachel McAdams married?
Rachel McAdams is not married—at least not that we know of! As of 2023, she's in a long-term relationship with filmmaker Jamie Linden. The two have been together for about seven years, since at least May 2016, when they were first spotted together in public.
An interesting fact about McAdams’s partner is he was once a contestant on The Price is Right, which inadvertently led to the start of his Hollywood career. In an interview with Florida State University's College of Communication and Information's Alumni News, he revealed, "I won $5,000 and a Tuscan wine server cart. So I decided to stay [in Los Angeles]. I got a temp job reading screenplays and was fascinated by them. I was hired and fired from a few assistant jobs so I figured I'd try writing a script myself."
Does Rachel McAdams have kids?
Rachel McAdams and Jamie Linden have two children.
In 2018, shortly after giving birth to her son, McAdams told The Sunday Times: "It's the greatest thing that's ever happened to me, hands down. [People say] your life is not your own any more. But I had 39 years of me, I was sick of me, I was so happy to put the focus on some other person. I waited a long time [for motherhood]."
McAdams and Linden have kept their kids names and faces out of the spotlight.
When did Rachel McAdams and Ryan Gosling date?
Rachel McAdams and Ryan Gosling famously starred in the hit 2004 romance The Notebook, and caused a fervor among fans a year later, when they became an item in real life. Ironically, the duo reportedly hated each other on set, with Gosling allegedly asking the director, Nick Cassavetes, to replace McAdams—mid-scene!
Cassavetes revealed to VH1, “Maybe I’m not supposed to tell this story, but they were really not getting along one day on set. Really not. And Ryan came to me, and there’s 150 people standing in this big scene, and he says, ‘Nick come here.’ And he’s doing a scene with Rachel and he says, ‘Would you take her out of here and bring in another actress to read off camera with me?’ I said, ‘What?’ He says, ‘I can’t. I can’t do it with her. I’m just not getting anything from this.'”
Even with all that animosity, the two started a relationship in 2005. Alas, the coupling was not built to last—they broke up two years later in 2007.
How long did Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams date?
Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams started dating after the release of the 2004 hit movie The Notebook. The two dated from 2005 until 2007.
Toward the end of their relationship, Gosling told GQ, “God bless The Notebook. It introduced me to one of the great loves of my life. But people do Rachel and me a disservice by assuming we were anything like the people in that movie. Rachel and my love story is a hell of a lot more romantic than that.”
Why did Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams break up?
Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams broke up in 2007, after two years together. Gosling told GQ that fame contributed to their split. “When both people are in show business, it’s too much show business. It takes all of the light, so nothing else can grow.”
It would appear that The Notebook fans took the breakup a wee bit too personally. In that same GQ interview, Gosling explained, “Women are mad at me. A girl came up to me on the street and she almost smacked me. Like, ‘How could you? How could you let a girl like that go?'”
He added, “I feel like I want to give people hugs, they seem so sad. Rachel and I should be the ones getting hugs! Instead, we’re consoling everybody else.”
Related: Rachel McAdams and Rachel Weisz Sizzle in Romantic, Gripping Disobedience
Who else has Rachel McAdams dated?
Despite having such a high-profile relationship with Ryan Gosling—or perhaps because of it—Rachel McAdams has kept her personal life extremely private over the years. Here's what we know about who she dated.
Josh Lucas
After her 2007 breakup with Gosling, McAdams had a brief romance with Sweet Home Alabama actor Josh Lucas—the two were spotted together in April 2009. They did their best to keep their relationship out of the spotlight, so it's hard to say when it ended. But the coupling appears to have been relatively short lived.
Ben Jackson
In December 2009, McAdams was rumored to have dated former model and Jude Law’s personal assistant, Ben Jackson. The pair were spotted walking together through New York City, with a passerby noting, “They were laughing a lot and looked like they were having a good time.” Their relationship seems to have ended not long after.
Michael Sheen
Photo by Andreas Rentz/Getty Images
Rachel McAdams and Michael Sheen may seem like an unlikely pairing, but the couple dated for two years.
They met in 2010 on the set of 2011’s Midnight in Paris, but, according to McAdams, they didn’t get together until after filming wrapped. “Michael and I didn't get together while we were filming Midnight in Paris, which I feel strongly about not doing when I'm working. We became quite good friends, which I think is a great way to start.”
They went public with their relationship in October of 2010. Sadly, news of their breakup made headlines in February 2013.
Patrick Sambrook
McAdams’s last (public) relationship before she got together with long-term partner Jamie Linden was with Canadian music manager Patrick Sambrook. The two were seen kissing after a tennis date in Toronto in May 2014. Due to McAdams’s famously private nature, not much else is known about the coupling.
Did Rachel McAdams and Jake Gyllenhaal ever date?
Photo by Gregg DeGuire/WireImage
Rachel McAdams and Jake Gyllenhaal sparked dating rumors while filming the movie Southpaw in the summer of 2014. The pair were spotted doing a number of things together, from having dinner to attending boxing matches. However, there are a few reasons to believe the two never dated.
For one, McAdams has been open about not wanting to date her co-stars during filming. Plus, both McAdams and Gyllenhaal denied the relationship rumors. When a reporter asked directly during the promotion for their film, McAdams replied, “Oh, no,” with a laugh. And when Ellen DeGeneres asked Gyllenhaal about his love life when he was on her show around that time, the Brokeback Mountain actor responded by saying he was single. All things considered, it is likely the two were just friends and never dated.
Did Rachel McAdams and Kit Harington ever date?
Rachel McAdams and Kit Harington set tongues wagging when they were spotted having dinner together in Toronto in 2013. After a Twitter user posted a picture with the two actors, rumors flew!
However, those rumors can easily be put to rest: McAdams and Harington were actually at dinner with a group of friends—not just the two of them. Also, Harington was reportedly dating his now-wife, former Game of Thrones co-star Rose Leslie, at the time. It should be safe to say that McAdams and Harington were never an item!
